Knowledge and practices of mothers towards polio drops

Summary

A study of the knowledge and practices of Jammu mothers about polio drops revealed that 74 per cent of those who visited the child health clinic or immunisation clinics had done so for polio drops exclusively. Although advice of the neighbours, friends and relatives was a determining factor for their visit to the clinic, yet less than one-third of the mothers knew about the protective role of polio drops. This pointed towards a tendency among them for blind following. Even among those who attended the child health clinic for the second dose of polio drops after having received the first dose elsewhere, the proportion of mothers who did not know about its protective role was 34.6 per cent which reflected that even the immunisation clinics had done little to abolish the disparity between the public awareness and their actual knowledge of the role of polio vaccine.

The ignorance about triple antigen and BCG vaccine was quite alarming, even among those mothers who were educated beyond the matriculation stage.

The present study demonstrated that there is an urgent need for increasing public awareness of available vaccines. Furthermore, the clinics responsible for catering to the immunisation services must stress upon the parents the actual role of the vaccines so as to ensure adequate follow up.

Keywords

Public Awareness Poliomyelitis Government Medical College Matric Number Immunisation Clinic

From the Department of Paediatrics, Government Medical College and Associated Hospital, Jammu (J&K).